You do NOT need to have seen Fushigi Yuugi to enjoy this fic, first of all. ^^;thus why the first chapter may have been boring for those of you who've seenit before: I need to create a foundation for this ficcy, dun I?? .O;; It's a Ranmafic, not a FY fic.

Also, as a side note: This story isn't following the FY timeline EXACTLY. I mean,if I just made it all exactly the same, I might as well jus' be writing out FY w/the name "Akane" in place of "Miaka". It'll start out similar; they're put intothe same situation as Miaka and Yui.... but they're different people. ^~ Things'llwork out differently. O.O;; like, a LOT differently...

hai! that's all i have to say! ^-^ lezzgo. o.o--------Everlasting StoryPart 2Akane Miata

"Ow." Ranma really couldn't think of a more appropriate term for what he feltat that moment. "What..."

A thousand things ran through his head about the situation he seemed to be currently in. First of all, why did his head hurt so damn much? Why was hea girl? And... who did he have his arms around..?

He panicked at that last one.

Finally taking the time to open his eyes, Ranma looked down to find, to hisembarrassment, an unconscious Akane in his arms. Gently setting her down ontothe hard ground, and trying to deny the his face was as read as his hair, Ranmatook in the immediate area.

"Where the HELL are we...?" He wondered aloud.

"Ranma...?"

The redhead jumped a bit, turning to look back at Akane.

Her eyes were open, and she was staring at him with scantily veiled worry. "What just happened?" She propped herself up with her elbows, squinting against the bright sun.

Ranma scratched the back of his head, trying to force the gears in his head to work,despite the pain. "Well," he finally mumbled, "I don't think we're in the library anymore...."

"No duh, Ranma," Akane commented dryly. This couldn't be good. Somethingor someone had apparently transported the two of them to this strange place,which wouldn't be a first. Why did weird things ALWAYS happen to her whenshe was around Ranma for too long?

"The book!" Ranma suddenly exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Huh?" Jarred out of her thoughts, she let her focus drift back to the pigtailedgirl.

"Right before that bright light... Didn't you say something about a mantra or a spell or something?" Ranma crossed his arms over his chest and put on his bestpout. "THAT'S nice, Akane. Ya just launched us into another one of your lil' adventures."

She scowled defiantly. "HEY! At least my adventures are never on as big of a scale as yours! And it's not MY fault that silly bird --"

"--Which doesn't EXIST," Ranma pointed out flatly.

"--led us up there. And it does SO exist." She punctuated her words with agraceful sticking-out-of-the-tongue. "Don't interrupt me." *At least,* Akane thought, *if I have to get sucked to a strange world, I get sucked with Ranma.*Of all people she could think of, Ranma was most definitely the best for gettinghimself out of sticky situations alive.

She grinned in spite of her scowl, a strange contrast to the fire in her eyes.

The two teenage girls stared each other down for a few moments, before Ranma sighed and let her gaze wander skywards.

"Akane..." His feminine voice was quiet, and cracked a little on the last syllables. Akane wondered a bit at the slight change of pace.

He let a sufficiently dramatic period of time pass before he finally declared, "I'm HUNGRY!!! ARRGGHH!!!"

Akane, who'd fallen back to the rough ground, decided it'd be best if she juststayed down.

"Ranma, y'know..." Her hands reached up to rub at her temples in annoyance."This really is one HELL of a time to make a comment like that..."

Ranma laughed, a little sheepishly, patting her empty stomach to emphasizeher suffering. "Just trying to lighten up the mood, you up-tight macho chick..."

Ranma took a good look at the crumpled Akane and picked up a little on something. It was subtle, but.... Akane was scared? She was slowly climbing back up to her feet, and the anger was still definitely dominating, but... Ranma couldn't help but notice the slight glitter of unease in her brown eyes.

He suddenly felt a little guilty. Alright, so maybe now WASN'T the time to bemaking degrading Akane-jokes.

He grabbed her wrist and pulled the both of them to their feet "Don't sweat it, 'kane! We'll find our way outta here in no time! Who knows, we might noteven be anywhere exciting."

At Akane's skeptical look, he continued. "Maybe it was just one of Happousai'slittle games that dumped us on the edge of Tokyo or something.

She let out a laugh at that. "Ranma, if we're in Japan, I'm your grandma."

Ranma's fists clenched at his sides, and he rolled his eyes. Always so damnPESSIMISTIC! What WAS it with women, anyway? He carefully made a noteto not remind himself that he was currently a woman himself.

"Okay," he huffed. "So maybe not Japan." He turned and walked a few feet,looking uselessly at the dead terrain, for hopes of anything that'd clue him in on theirlocation. Well, you could always hope..."Maybe we're somewhere more useful!"

She blinked a few times at him. "What place would we find useful?"

Ranma's eyes grew big as the thought processed through him. "China!! Maybe...Maybe we're near Jusenkyou!" Ranma hopped a little from foot to foot, as ifhe couldn't contain his energy. "I could be cured! It's been restored since theJusendo thing--"

He cut off. Akane'd been chuckling to herself a little throughout his revelation, but at the mention of the sacred training grounds, her laughter had dwindled off.

Her eyes stayed fixated on some rubble at her feet. She could feel Ranma's eyeson her, and didn't want to make something out of an issue that was really nothing.It WAS nothing, after all.

"Oy.." Ranma's voice was unusually gentle.

"We've got to find civilization! Yes. We need a town or some sort of monumentthat'll let us at least know what country we're in..." Her amused smile was back,but it didn't quite reach her eyes.

*Alright, so maybe I just imagined it...* Ranma felt a little guilty at his failed attempt at cheering her up. The Jusendo subject was still a little soft. He knewdamn well that they needed to... talk about it... But, well, having planned talksabout a predetermined topic was never their strong point. Especially when thattopic had emotional attachments to it that weren't anger.

While Ranma silently mused to himself, Akane turned away from him in a way a little too casual to really be casual. They could be so damn PERFECT together.Even he wasn't afraid to admit that. But... there was still so much... tension.Anger, sarcasm, and humor could ease it, or even hide it completely, but it wasstill almost always there.

*Aw, what's the point. She's not even really my fiancee. I didn't chose her,and it ain't like I got any obligations to her...* He ignored the tingle in hischest, the one that whispered "denial~...." and directed his attention backto Akane.

She seemed to be considering something. With a careful tilt of her head, shefinally reached her conclusion.

...picking a random direction, Akane started off. "Come'on, Ranma-kun! Onward!"She struck a heroic pose, and Ranma noted that it reached her eyes this time.

"You sound like a twisted blend of Nabiki and Kuno..." He muttered as he beganfollowing her. Their little shield of comedy was apparently reconstructed. The slight awkwardness of before faded from his mind and she replied to his comment.

"I can do them all, really. Wanna hear my impression of Kodachi?"

Before he could stop her, Akane let out a bout of maniacal laughter that sounded too cute to be Kodachi's, but annoying nonetheless.

For the second time in the past hour, Ranma ran smack into Akane's back asshe made an abrupt stop directly in front of him.

"OY! Would you WATCH where I'm going, psycho!?"

Akane had stopped her inane cackling, and a curious glint had once again enteredher eyes. "Hey," she whispered over her shoulder. "Think they can help us?"

Ranma blinked at her for a few moments, before following her gaze over toa small group of men blocking Akane's forward-march.

They were dressed in Chinese clothing, Ranma noted with interest.

The men all looked drunk, sinister, horny and kinda evil-y.

They practically had a freaking *rain cloud* brewing over their heads.

"Err... Akane, I know you have a twisted view of reality and all, but... They don'treally look like they WANT to help us."

"Oh, don't be silly." Before Ranma could stop her, Akane had yelled a pleasant"yoo-hoo" to the men and strolled towards them.

"Do any of you suppose you could lend your assistance? Maybe... tell us wherewe are, or--"

"--hey baby, you lost? How 'bout having some fun with us?"

Akane's eyebrows shot up. "Don't interrupt me, buddy."

Ranma's stance remained relaxed; these guys were a bunch of untrained losers.Akane could'a kicked their asses if she'd been a twelve year old. His protectivenature was prickling, but fear for his own health kept him from bugging Akaneduring one of her fights.

"And what about the one in the background? Real erotic hair she's got there..."

--he'd do it for her. Akane's control over her temper was really wearing thin, though. Even Ranma could tell from his spot several yards away.

"As I was SAYING." Akane stated loudly. "I would REALLY like to know wherewe are--" She let out a frustrated sigh as one of the men lunged for her."STOP interrupting me!" Her weight shifted, and she freed one of her legs to doa simple bunt-kick. Her peripheral vision let her know that Ranma was alreadytaking down the others.

Her kick met nothing but air, though. The pervert crumpled before she let outany anger.

Akane's head pivoted in the direction of the new figure: a young man of about herage had knocked the guy out. "HEY!!!"

Ranma walked up behind her, eyeing the new comer without the initial anger Akanewas displaying.

He'd taken the guy out effortlessly -- Not that he couldn't have done the same, and these guys weren't incredibly talented, but still... The kick had been almost too quick for Ranma to follow. Not someone to be trusted, most-likely... Ranma kept her eyestrained on the young man as he sauntered over to them.

"Are you two ladies okay?" His hair went down to his waste, tied into a loose ponytail.His sky-blue eyes glittered with charm; and on his forehead, the imprinted chinese symbolfor "oni" smoldered in dark red. *Tattoo?* Ranma wondered absently.

Akane, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about the boy's fighting ability, orthe ominous demon kanji on his head. He'd just taken out her anger's outlet, which meant he got the lucky honor of replacing that outlet.

"Just WHAT do you think you're doing?!"

The tall boy had the gall to look innocent. "I just saved you--" His soft, surprised voicemurmered.

"Err.." Ranma interrupted loudly. No sense in letting Akane embarrass them in front of the first friendly face they'd seen. "What she means is thanks for savingus..." Ranma let out a nervous giggle and put on her ultra cute act, batting eyelashesand all.

The stranger frowned slightly. "And here I thought I was saving some hot babes, butall I get is you two?" He sighed and put a hand to his head, his eyes closing tiredly."I suppose you aren't even going to pay me?"

Ranma moved with lightening-quick grace to latch onto Akane's arm. No point intearing the poor guy to shreds -- yet, anyway. This guy didn't think his girlformwas a babe? *What misplaced taste...* Ranma thought absently while he heldonto his enraged fiancee.

"PAY YOU?? You'll be the one paying me for your life once I get my hands on you,you little twit..." Akane growled through clenched teeth.

The boy started to look miffed. "Aren't WE the rude one? Look miss, I just saved your LIFE!" He thrust a thumb towards himself to emphasize.

"I don't need to be protected! I could have taken him down in a second!" Akane shotback in a hiss. Ranma's arms were still tight on her own. Stupid Ranma. Why did everyone have to be stronger than her?

"What kind of chick ARE you?" He looked torn between anger and confusion, but finallyjust rolled his eyes and turned away. "Look, I'm out of here. If you're not going to payme, then you're not going to pay me."

Akane's battle aura is starting to chafe... Ranma thought bitterly.

"Cheap-skate bimbos..." The man muttered before starting off.

Ranma's eyelid twitched a little.

*Oh well,* he finally thought. *Let the guy see just how distressed this "damsel" is.*Releasing his grip on the tomboy's arm, Ranma stepped back to watch with as much disinterest as he could muster.

"Just be sure to make him tell us where we are, before you dismember him..."

Akane was off before he could even finish, though.

Ranma started to wonder a bit at his psychological health as he felt twinges of jealousy,watching the two yell at each other. What was he, masochistic? At least it wasn't himthat was on the receiving end of Akane's blows... right?

"I'll show you BIMBO, you stuck-up SNOT!"

Ranma rolled his eyes and started to follow before they got too far.

A familiar tingle grasped at the nape of his neck before he took no more than threesteps.

"eh?" Battle senses kicked in.

His girlform's voice let out a muffled squawk as a red heat engulfed him. All Ranma could do was keep his eyes from drifting closed as his stomach went through vertigo.

Ranma's muscles tensed, fighting against this new development. *What kind of place IS this?*

It wasn't until Akane's angry form started to fade from view that Ranma felt fear grip him.He tried shouting out to her, to get her attention. He forced his legs to move against the myterious prickle. It felt like it was eating at his insides...

*What the HELL is this?!* His voice wouldn't let out anymore than dry gasps -- Where theheck was that stupid tomboy? It was getting harder and harder to see through the angry red haze that clouded his vision. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Right now, Ranma really didn't wanna deal with the separation-anxiety he'd felt himself develop towards Akane shortlyafter Jusendo.

"Aka..." Ranma made a final lunge for Akane, who was already far ahead giving the oni boy a good chase. Why wouldn't his voice WORK?

Then, he felt the power tugging on his pigtail, pulling him away from the terrain and consciousness..... and Akane.. he didn't wanna leave her alone here. She couldn't take care of herself.

Then it was black.

::::

"Take THAT!! And THAT!!" She bopped him repeatedly on the head, or tried to at least. Thestupid boy was moving too quickly for her to land all of her blows. The few that connected,though, looked like they would leave nice bruises.

"GRAH! LEAVE ME ALONE!" He seemed reluctant to strike back at her, making her all themore angry.

"What's wrong with you? Fight back!" Her anger was already mostly satiated, but shewanted to have some fun. It'd been so long since she had all those frequent fights inthe mornings with those boys....

His lips pursed and he didn't answer her. Before Akane could whip out the mallet-power,he'd leapt over her head took off in the direction of a road -- the first sign of civilizationAkane'd seen so far.

That discovery could wait, though.

"HEY?!?! DON'T RUN AWAAY!"

"I don't have time for this, lady!" She heard him yell as he sprinted away from her.

Akane huffed and ran a hand through her slightly sweaty hair. That'd been interesting,at least. He was a cute boy, if a little feminine-looking. Granted, she hadn't been able to get any information out of him regarding their whereabouts, at least she got a workout, right?

*And, by the looks of it...* Akane grinned, *a road that will hopefully lead us somewheremore useful than the middle of a desert.* She paused a moment to rest her hands on herknees and catch her breath.

"Hey, Ranma! Look what I found!" She turned back towards her fiancé -- or, at least, where her fiancé should have been. "...Ranma?" Had they gone farther than she'd thought? That was a joke, though, and she was painfully aware that the area she stood in looked exactly thesame as where she and Ranma had been dumped: bleak, empty, and utterly flat. She could see a good mile into the distance before there were any vertical disturbances in the land.

And no Ranma. Just a couple bodies of some thugs lying about twenty feet in front of her.

A sensation was nudging its way into her conscious memory; while she'd been fighting that boy, aweird sensation had come over her briefly. She'd been in the middle of a perfect leg swipe though,and didn't think much of it at the time.

*Maybe...*

She made a mindful effort to keep her breath slow and steady.

*Maybe that boy did something to him..?* She'd been fighting him while the feeling had surfaced,after all. Her feet started a jerky trot back towards the spot where the bodies were, despite theobvious truth.

"Ranma? This isn't funny..." Her voice sounded too meek for her liking. She hated admittingthe fact that Ranma gave her a strange sense of comfort and confidence. Had she been stuckhere alone, she probably wouldn't have even approached the rapists so arrogantly as she had.

Her fists clenched as she arrived at the same spot they'd started out at. No Ranma hiding impossiblybehind one of the tiny shrubs, or under any of the rock clusters.

No Ranma...

Unconsciously, her arms came up to wrap themselves around the soft silk of her -- well, his -- shirt.

"That guy.. he must've done something..." Her breathing was just a little shaky. "And now I'mtalking out loud to myself..." Her lips thinned in disapproval. With a determined nod of her head,she swiveled back towards the road.

*Alright, Mr. Loud-Mouth. Time to find you and your money-grubbing paws.* Convinced that theincredibly annoying boy was the source of her fiancé's disappearance, she stalked towards the roadand the large bustling city that was just beyond her sight.------Next Time ~::Ranma's.. gone? Oops. Akane's all alone now, and begins her quest to search forthe kidnapped red-head. ^.^;; Where better to look, than that mysterious blue-hairedboy from before? And -- Where'd Ranma go, anyway? O.O------Author's Notes:o.O;; i finished a chapter in less than a year? 0.0 weird. oh well. better than studying for finals.^.^ *lets out a caffeinated giggle*

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.